A wild day of roster transactions started with Marlins baseball operations president Larry Beinfest reading off the names of seven players with minor league contracts who were being added to the Opening Day roster”

OF Austin Kearns, 1B Casey Kotchman, RHP Chad Qualls, RHP Kevin Slowey, IF Chris Valaika, RHP John Maine “and — get ready — Jose Fernandez. THE Jose Fernandez,” Beinfest said with dramatic effect.
Two starting pitchers who were supposed to be in the season-opening rotation were added to the 15-day disabled list because of shoulder inflammation: Henderson Alvarez, retroactive to March 27, and Nathan Eovaldi, retroactive to March 24.

Two other players were added to the disabled list, which was not unexpected: C Jeff Mathis and 1B Joe Mahoney, both retroactive to March 22.

RHP Alex Sanabia was recalled from Class AAA New Orleans.

Three players were transfered to the 60-day disabled list: 1B Logan Morrison, OF Alfredo Silverio and RHP Jose Ceda, who suffered a setback in his comeback from right elbow surgery.

Four players were designated for assignment, meaning the Marlins have 10 days to trade, outright or release them: OF Gorkys Hernandez, 3B Zack Cox, LHP Scott Maine and RHP Evan Reed.

As for the injured starting pitchers, the Marlins found out about Eovaldi yesterday morning. “He didn’t have any pain, he just had trouble getting loose,” Beinfest said.

An MRI showed shoulder inflammation.

Beinfest said both Eovaldi and Alvarez are on “no throw” status for three to five days but are expected to resume throwing next week. The worst-case scenario is that they are out one month at the most.

“We’ve never seen anything like this in terms in selecting seven guys. It’s not even close,” Beinfest said.

The adjusted starting rotation will go Ricky Nolasco on Monday, Kevin Slowey on Wednesday (after an off-day Tuesday), Wade LeBlanc on Thursday — all in Washington.

In New York, Alex Sanabia will start Friday, Nolasco on Saturday and Fernandez on Sunday.

As of two days ago, the starting rotation would have gone Nolasco, Eovaldi, LeBlanc, Alvarez and Slowey, with Sanabia in Class AAA New Orleans and Fernandez at Class AA Jacksonville.

Fernandez is up only because of the injuries, but Beinfest said the idea of Fernandez breaking camp with the Marlins “has been tugging at all of us a little bit.”

“When we got word that Alvarez was not going to make Opening Day, we starting to talk about what we were going to do to fill in. Jose was always there,” Beinfest said.

“We went through a lot of time from the top starting with (owner) Jeffrey (Loria) all the way through our minor league people and the sense was this kid is ready to handle it here. He’s ready to pitch here.”

Even before promoting him to the majors, the Marlins had earmarked an innings limit in the minors for Fernandez — 150 to 170 innings. That will still be in place for as long as Fernandez pitches with the Marlins this year.

The Marlins will limit his innings per start but they have not said how long he will go Sunday in New York.

“We understand the asset we have have, the value of him, his age (20), and we’re going to do whatever we can do to do things in his best interests,” Beinfest said.

“We think he is ready to do it. He just demonstrated everything from maturity, to physical strength to the qusality of the pitches that he can do it.”

The Marlins made the decision Friday and took Fernandez with them to New Orleans on Saturday when they played an exhibition game against their Class AAA afiliate.

“We spent a lot of time around the kid, saw how he interacted when he was in the major league clubhouse (during spring training). It seems like he is ready to do this. This is like where he should be,” Beinfest said.

“Obviously there’s some service-time implications, free-agent implications. All of those things have been discussed and everybody was comfortable doing this.”

Still, not many pitchers make the jump from Class A to the Major Leagues. Fernandez finished the 2012 season with the Class A Jupiter Hammerheads in the Florida State League.

“I know this has the potential to have some criticism. The guy hasn’t pitched in Double-A. This is a valuable asset. We understand all of these things and they’re all different,” Beinfest said.

“Some guys are going to be ready at 24 and some guys are going to be ready at 20… We are doing this completely with our eyes open….”

Fernandez, who will wear No. 16, said he found out Friday at around 6:30 p.m. when owner Jeffrey Loria called him.

“It was crazy,” Fernandez said. “I didn’t even know what to do., I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry. It was crazy. I was pretty nervous.

“I’m happy to be here. That is what I worked for all of my life. That’s what I came to the United States for, to play in the big leagues, and I’m going to try to enjoy every bit of it.”

His parents and friends will be in New York. He was asked to describe his parents’ reaction when he called them today: “My mother started crying. She couldn’t talk. My dad was happy.

“I’ve got a chance to join this team and help them to win,” he said.

Fernandez said he is confident he can make the jump from the Florida State League to the Major leagues.

“This is the big leagues but the way I see it, I’m going to go out there and do what I do – throw strikes and get outs. They’re hitters and you have to get them out. That’s the way I see it,” he said.

“This is just, I’m still in shock. I haven’t taken it in yet. It’s crazy. It’s fun. It’s fun. It’s incredible. … It’s not spring training any more. The season is going to start tomorrow and I’m here with them.”

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